Planter.



W. FRBDE.

PLANTER. AVPPLIGATION FILED JULY 24, 1908. 921 ,222. Patented May 11,1909.

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PLANTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1908.

Patented May 11, 1909.

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W. FREDE.

PLANTER.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 24, 1908.

921,222. n Patented May 11, 1909.

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brillait WILHELM FREDE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PLANTER.

Specification or Letters Eatent.

Patented May 11, 1909.

Application filed. .Iuly 24, 1308. Serial No. 445,254.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, "WILHELM Fnnnn, a citizen of the United States, andresident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Planters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in planters and consists in thenovel arrangement, construction and combination of parts as will befully hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of my invention is to construct a planter to be usedespecially for planting corn and so arranged as to distribute the seedin perfect alinenient and at equal distance apart.

A further object of my invention is to construct a device having aplurality of seed retainers in which is mounted a mechanism operated bythe traction wheels regulating the discharge of the seed While theplanter is in operation and a means for controlling the manipulation ofthe seed discharging mechanism and a marker for designating the locationof the seed.

Figure l is a top plan view of my complete invention. Fig. 2 is a bottomplan view of the same. Fig. 3 is side view. Fig. 4 is a top plan view ofone of the seed retainers with the cover removed. Fig. 5 is a centralvertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of oneof the sprocket wheels with its plate removed showing the internalratchet mechanism. Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 77of Fig. 6 viewing the same in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig.8 is a detail perspective view of the lever mechanism by which theclutch and elevating means is operated. Fig. 9 is a detail crosssectional view of the front section of the frame showing the manner ofelevating the frame. Fig. l() is a detail perspective view of the markermechanism. Fig. li is a detail perspective view of the lever and ratchetmechanism by which the seed controlling disks may be operated. Fig. i2is a detail perspective view of a portion of the seed retainer and theplanter frame showing the marker and indicator in their relativeposition with the seed tube.

In the construction of my invention, I provide a suitable frame 13consisting of a front rail 14 and rear rail 15 connected together by theside rails 16 and the center rails 17. rlhe frame 13 is supported at itsrear end on the driving axle or shaft I8 on which are mounted thetraction wheels 19. 'he said axle is supported in suitable bearings andon said axle are keyed a pair of sprocket wheels 2G. On the hubs of thetraction wheels i9 are lo cated clutch members 21, and on the shaft 18between the wheels and the frame is slid* ably mounted a companionclutch member 22, which is brought in contact with the clutch member 2lof the wheel when it is desired to operate the driving wheel I9. `Uponthe shaft, the clutch member 22 and the bearing is located a spiralspring 23 which assists in operating the clutch member. On the frame andimmediately in front of the shaft bearings are located brackets 24 inwhich are pivotally located a bell crank 25. To one end of said bellcrank is connected one end of the bifurcated clutch arm 26, thebifurcated portion 27 straddling the clutch whereby the saine may beshifted in and out of contact by the manipulation of the shaft 2S. Tothe opposite end of the bell crank is attached a short connecting arm 2Q5 the opposite end of said arm being connected to one end of the fulcrumis rigidly supported on the shaft 28, the said shaft 28 extending acrossthe en tire planter frame and its end supported in bearings 3]. locatedbeneath the same. To the opposite end of the fulcruui 30 is attached aconne ting rod 32, the opposite end of which is attached to the arm 33of the I tilting prong 34 which is supported in bearings 35 carried bythe front rail I4.

On the side rails and center rails are mounted the seed retainers orhoppers 36 in which the seed is placed, the top of said retainers beingprovided with the cover 37, half of said cover being inovably attachedto the remaining half by the hinges 38 so that access may be had to theinterior. At the bottom of each retainer is located a revolving disk 39in which is formed a plurality of openings 40 of sufficient size toaccommodate the required number of seed to be conveyed to the seed tube4I located beneath the retainer and in such position as to be inalinement with the openings 40 and said disks 39 are secured to a shaft42 which extends upwardly through the retainers and are supported inbearings 43 located at the top of the retainers, the

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lower `end of said shaft is provided with a bevel gea-r 44 which mesheswith a bevel gear 45 located on a shaft 46 which extends across theplanter frame beneath the seed retainers, and this shaft is placed inoperation by the chains 47 extending from the sprocket wheels 20 on thedrivingshaft to the sprocket wheels 48 located on the shaft 46. Each ofthe sprocket wheels 48 (see Fig. ,6 are) provided with an internalratchet mechanism which consists of a ratchet wheel 49 keyed upon theshaft 46, the sprocket wheels 48 loosely mounted on said shaft andmotion is imparted to the sprocket wheels 48 'by means of the springactuated pawls 50 supported in the sprocket wheel, ythe teeth coming incontact with the teeth .of the -ratchet wheel permitting the shaft torevolve when motion is imparted to the sprocket wheels 48 by the chains.

Beneath the two outer seed retainers and located in suitable bearings isa short shaft 51, one end of which is provided with a `gear pinion 52which meshes with a gear 53 located on the shaft 46 immediately to oneside of the bevel gear 45 and on the opposite end of the short shaft 51is located a double cam 54 which when revolved comes in contact with thelever 55 operating the saine, the .said lever being supported inbearings 56 located beneath the seed retainers, the opposite end of saidlever being attached to the marker 57, the said marker yoperating in thebearing 5 8 supported around the seed tube 41 and around `said marker islocated an eX- pans'ive spring 59, which has a tendency :to operate themarker with a sudden jolt when the end of the lever 55 'has beenreleased from the cam 54, making an indentation in the earth to one sideof said tube, so as to indicate to the operator, the position of theplanted seed.

On the lower end of the seed tube is attached the ordinary furrow-opener60, the furrow being closed vand the seed covered by the traction wheels1,9. In each of said retainers or hoppers, 'I place a roller cut-off 61mounted on an arm 62 which is 'tiltingly located in the hopper andsupported to one side thereof, the roller being so arranged as to rideupon the upper surface of the disk 39 ,and of such width as to extendacross the opening to remove suchsurplus seed as will not llodge in theopening, and by this mechanism only .a certain number of seed arepermitted to pass into the tube. The gearing, and the arrangement of thedisks is such that the seeds are permitted to drop at a certain intervalapart.

On the center rails 17 is located the drivers seat 63. To the sidethereof is located, a clutch operating lever 64 and a disk operatinglever 65. 'The clutch operating lever 64 is rigidly attached to theshaft 28 while the lever 65 is loosely mounted on said shaft, its

lower projecting end being connected to a connecting rod 67 whichconnects a ratchet 66 located on the shaft 46. The clutch operatinglever 64 is held in. its adjusted position by the segment 68 supportedon one of the center rails 17.

VOn the top of the center seed retainer and rigidly connected to theshaft 42, l provide an indicator 69 which is so arranged as tocorrespond with the relative position ofthe openings in the disk and onthe cover 87 is located a pointer 70 which indicates to the driver thelocation of the openings and acts as a guide for planting.

Beneath the front rail 14 is mounted a bar 71 to which is attached thetongue 72 and through the ends of said bar and the front rail 14 ispassed the pins 7 3 to which are connected the swivel wheels 74. Betweenthe bar 71 and the front rail 14 operate the tilting prongs '34, theprong coming in contact with the bar when the clutch operating lever ismanipulated, bringing the prong downwardly thereby raising the frameupwardly a sufficient distance to lift the furrow-openers away from theground, at the same time releasing the clutches permitting the .tractionwheels to operate freely and independently of .the niaj or portion ofthe mechanism.

rl`he operation of my invention is as follows: After the several hoppershave been filled with seed and the planter conveyed to the section ofthe farm on which the seed is to be planted, the operator after havingbrought the planter into position, manipulates the clutch operatinglever, lowering the frame at the same time throwing the clutches ingear. He then notes the indicator on the center hopper placing theindicator in such position that the poin'ter and one of the rongs are inalinement. rlhis can be done by the manipulation of the hand lever 65. Then the team is started and as the planter is conveyed forward the shaft46 is revolved by the chains 47 and in turn through the mechanismlocated beneath each hopper the disks are revolved, permitting therequired amount of seed to fall through the seed tube into the furrowbelow formed by the furrow-openers- /Vhen the end of the stretch ofground has been reached and it is desired to return, the operatormanipulates the clutch operating lever throwing the operating mechanismout of gear. rlhen he notes the several indentations made in the groundby the markers and by means of the depending rod 75 located on the endof the projecting arm 7,6 which is pivotally attached to one side of thehopper, he

drives the team so that the depending rod is directly above the row ofindentations and before dropping the seed to form the next row, hemanipulates the hand lever 65 until the indicator registers with thepointer, then the team is started and the seed is dropped in perfectalinement with the seed already 5 claim is:

A device of' the class described, comprising a suitable frame; the frontportion provided with swivel wheels a driving shaft located at the rearportion of the frame traction wheels mounted on the driving shaft;clutches mounted on the driving shaft to be brought into communicationwith the traction wheels for placing the driving shaft in operation; alever mechanism supported on the frame for operating the clutches; aplurality ol' seed hoppers carried by the frame and arranged at equalintervals apart; a shaft located bel neath the hoppers; a perforatedrevolving disk located in the bottom of each hopper and placed inrevolution by the shaft beneath the hoppers; a marking device located atone side of the hopper chute and operated by the shaft 5 an indicatormounted on one of the hoppers to designate the position of the disks inthe hop ers 3 a pair of hand levers for operating the c utch mechanismand the indicator mechanism independently; a tilting` mechanism by whichthe frame can be raised and lowered; and a designating device forproperly spacing the rows and properly planting, substantially asspeciiied.

In testimony whereof7 I have signed my naine to this specification, inpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

/VILHELM FREDE.

Witnesses ALFRED A. EICKS, WALTER C. STEIN.

